Bottle-stopper



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS ERDMANN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISONSIN.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPEGIFIGATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 229,595, dated July 6, 1880.

Application filed December 29, 1879.

To all whom 'it ma/y concem Be it known that I, J ULIUs ERDMANN, of the city of Milwaukee, and county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Stoppers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings represents a Vertical section of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a side view of the spring detached from the stopper. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section of the plug through holes d cl.

The object of my nvention is to furnish improvements in that class of bottle-stoppers which are retained upon the inside of the bottle and close the neck of the bottle at its lower end.

My invention consists more particularly in the peculiar construction of the upper part of the stopper and the device by which the spring and stopper are connected together.

I am aware that a variety of kinds of stoppers adapted to be used upon the inside of bottles have been made, some of which have been attached to a single straight rod and others to one arm of a U-shaped spring.

In some cases the stoppers have been attached rigidly to one or both arms of the spring, and in others it has been provided with a hook or eye, through which one of the arms of the spring, which is bent in the form of a hook, is inserted, thus forming a flexible joint and leaving the other arm of the spring free.

It is obvious that when the stopper is thus attached, either rigidly or by a fiexible joint, to but one arm of the spring, the stopper is naturally drawn to one side of the center of the spring, When the arms spread apart, and the stopper is retained directly beneath the arm to which it is attached and at one side of the neck. f

It is desirable to retain the stopper at all times directly midway between the two arms of the spring, and at the same time leave both arms of the spring free to be compressed or extended against theinner walls of the neck of the bottle. It is also important to control the movement of the stopper as much as possible by the bail or spring, and at the same time to provide such an attachment as will permit of the Vertical arms of the bail being sprung together, or separated, or entirely removed from the sto pper. These desirable ends are attained by connecting the respective ends of the bail to the stopper at points slightly apart from each other, so that, by the two bearings, the tendency of the stopper to oscillate is resisted, while it is obvious that were the arms which support the stopper in line with each other, and inserted in the same hole in the stopper, the two arms together would serve as an axis around which the stopper could freely oscillate or revolve.

i My invention is further explained by reference to the drawings, in which like parts are indica-ted by the same reference-letters.

A is a wire spring having straight parallel arms a a and arms c c,be11t at`right angles thereto and extending on the same plane parallel to each other, side by side, as shown. B is the stopper, which is constructed of hard wood or metal in the shape shown, consisting of knob D, having two holes, d d, extending parallel to each other iu a horizontal direction through from one side to the other, and neck E, disk F, and knob G. H is a rubber annulus or gasket, which is expanded and slipped over the knob D before the spring A is attac'hed, when it contracts around the neck E and is retained between the knob D and disk F.

The spring A is attached to the stopper by inserting the arms c c, respectively, through the holes d d, respectively, from opposite sides of the knob D, as shown.

The arms c c are both loosely fitted to the holes d d, so that when they are compressed together or spread apart they move freely thereiu and allow the stopper to remain suspended midway between the arms a a and in the center of the neck of the bottle. When the stopper is thus attached at two points to the spring it is retained iu a direct line with and between the arms of the spring, while the arms are as free to be compressed as if the stopper were not attached.

IOO

When desirous to remove the stopper from the bottle, the arms a ay are separated until the armsc c are drawn from the holes d d, thus disconnecting the spring froin the stopper, when the spring is readily taken out lirst, when a hook or tongue is attached to the knoh (i, and the stopper is inverted and readil y withdrawn. By thus inverting the stopper when removing it the rubber annulus or gasket is pressed back against the knoh D, in which position it can be drawn through the neck of the bottle. Having thus deseribed my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

JULIUS ERDMANN.

Witnesses:

JAs. B. ERWIN, W. SINNo'rT. 

